Capitalism has repeatedly embraced flexibility in prior historical episodes.
Evidence
I do not accept this position. The evidence for increased flexibility (sub-contracting, temporary and self-employment, etc.) throughout the capitalist world is simply too overwhelming to make Pollert’s counter-examples credible. I also find it surprising that Gordon, who earlier made a reasonably strong case that the suburbanization of industry away from the city centres was in part motivated by a desire to increase labour control, should reduce the question of geographical mobility to a matter of volumes and directions of inter national trade. Nevertheless, such criticisms introduce a number of important correctives in the debate. The insistence that there is nothing essentially new in the push towards flexibility, and that capitalism has periodically taken these sorts of paths before, is cer tainly correct (a careful reading of Marx’s Capital sustains the point). — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 1211
Categorization
- XREF: Reinforces the reader’s project of comparing Harvey’s flexible-accumulation periodization against rival accounts — both Harvey and his critics claim flexibility is historically recurrent, which complicates the ‘postmodern break’ story. — connects to: Late capitalism survives crises by incorporating whatever previously stood outside it — Grant Bollmer, Katherine Guinness, The Influencer Factory: A Marxist…, 102; The spirit of capitalism shifts from risk-taking to uncertainty-endorsing speculation. — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities: Living With…, 79; Fordist modernity stabilized its economy to enable change while flexible postmodernism reverses this — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity: An…, 2102
Broader Connections
- Late capitalism survives crises by incorporating whatever previously stood outside it
#expands(0.85) — Grant Bollmer, Katherine Guinness, The Influencer Factory, 102 - Fordist modernity stabilized its economy to enable change while flexible postmodernism reverses this
#exemplifies(0.82) — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 2102 - The spirit of capitalism shifts from risk-taking to uncertainty-endorsing speculation.
#exemplifies(0.75) — Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Speculative Communities, 79